


Sacrifice

by watergator



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Brothers, Fluff, Gen, Sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-15
Packaged: 2018-05-31 05:25:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6457609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watergator/pseuds/watergator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Turtles have lost all three pieces of the black hole generator, leaving the fate of the world to the Triceratons. But when the only glimmer of hope is a certain sacrifice, will the Leader in Blue be able to go through with it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Leo didn’t even know how long he had been holding his breath for until it all came out at once, his lungs growing tired, the air escaping his lips in a huff of exhaustion and frustration.

His deep ocean blue eyes flickered across the screen in front of where he sat next to his taller brother, the scene unfolding around him. It was over.  
The Triceratons had all three pieces – they had the black hole generator, and now the Turtles were about to watch the same events that was still so crisp and raw in their memories; the destruction of Earth.

“There has to be something – anything!” Leo cringed at how desperate he sounded, but truth be told, of course he was.

They had tried so hard, fought so well – and it was all for nothing as they sat in the familiar control room of Fugitoid ship, the low hum of the engine rumbling around them.

The robot Professor let out a sigh, deflating at the desperation in the turtles voice, 

“It seems that there is nothing we can do, I’m so sorry”  
And he did sound genuinely sorry, his voice full of hurt as if the words actually stung him, but this wasn’t his planet getting destroyed, it wasn’t his Sensei getting killed down there. It wasn’t his life that was over, and Leonardo let a growl escape from the back of his throat, his anger that had been growing inside of his, releasing in tiny forms, but it was still so uncharacteristic of him, scary to say the least.

“We can’t just sit here!” Raph voice exploded from the other pod where he and the youngest sat, slouched in defeat.

But no words were exchanged, the silence of ticking brains working so desperately to form some sort of plan, anything that could or would work. 

Leo heard the saddened sigh from the brother next to him and Leo felt his face relax, he was stressed, they were all stressed – it simply wasn’t fair. 

“I just wish there was some sort of alternative universe or something” The orange clad brother mumbled, his head resting on his crossed arms, his expression looked relaxed, but Leo knew his youngest brother too well that he too, was probably stressing and feeling anxious, although he would never show it.

And just like that, it was like a lightbulb had been switched on, the Professor snapping his fingers, 

“That’s it!” He exclaimed, his voice at least three times lighter before.  
The mood instantly switched in the room,

“What’s it?” Casey spoke from the back of the room, and Leo almost jumped, their human friends had been so quiet this entire time that it was almost impossible to remember they were there.

“Alternative Universe” The Professor spoke like it was so obvious, and the mention of Mikey’s idea caused the freckled turtle to sit up, wanting to listen in, 

“You see, back on that day, I am to understand that one of you was captured, no?” He asked, looking around the room.

Leo tensed slightly as he youngest brother spoke,

“Yeah that was me” His voice was quiet, slightly unsure,

The Professor nodded, mulling it over in his head,

“Well, your brothers rescued you, correct?” He asked again,

Mikey nodded, a smile creeping on his lips, looking at his brothers who were now sympathetically smiling back,

“Well, this is where it all changes” The robots tone had changed slightly, sounding uneven,

“Instead of going up to the ship to save your friend, you must stay behind” 

Raphael's burst of ‘WHAT?!’ seemed to bounce of the walls violently standing up from his seat, almost in a protective was as Mikey felt himself lower into his own seat,

Leo felt his heart twist uncomfortably at where this plan was headed, but he nodded for the Professor to continue, ignoring the colourful words escaping from his hot headed brother on the far side of the room.

“Instead of your Sensei retrieving help from The Shredder, you three will be there to help destroy it quicker, resulting in the Earth not being destroyed” Fugitoid looked like it was the most easiest thing ever, apart from the one minor detail of not saving his little brother in the process.

“But we can’t just leave Mikey!” Donnie spoke, his voice squeaked slightly,

“Yes, yes, I understand that this would be a problem” The Professor lay a reassuring hand on the tall turtle, but Leo didn’t expect him to flinch so much, the pressure obviously building up on him.

“So what do ya suggest?” Raph spoke up again, his voice was angry and now he was slumped in his seat, his arms crossed over his plastron, his face scowling,

“Well that’s where you come in Michelangelo” The Professor smiled confidently.

The said turtle suddenly felt an awkwardness spread over him from the attention turning to him,

“Me?” He squeaked, clearing his throat to avoid embarrassment,

“Yes, you. You must escape the Triceratons ship – and get back to Earth”

Easier said than done.

Leo knew that he’d vowed to do anything to save the Earth, but he seriously didn’t like the idea of abandoning the rescue plan for his little brother.

“Can’t I just not get caught” He asked flailing his arms dramatically, 

The Professor sighed,

“I’m afraid not, the timeline has been set up to that point. I’m sorry but it’s all we got” 

And Leo felt that growl travel through his throat again because was he really sorry? This wasn’t his little brother they were sacrificing, this was so much more to them than it was to Fugitoid and Leo couldn’t express the mixture of emotions that seemed to be bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

“Can’t I go?” He asked, but it wasn’t as much as a plea, his tone was strong, more determined, 

The Professor sadly shook his head only to get a ‘Damn’ from the blue clad brother.

There was another silence, their brains working overtime to get a way out of this nightmare of a situation. There was an awful deadly silence until,

“I’ll do it”

Leo didn’t know what to feel for his brother, whether it was fear, anger, hurt or even a little bit proud, but when he spoke next it came out as a mixture,

“Mikey no, you can’t” His voice cracking, his eyes shimmering more light than usual.

The freckled turtle felt his heat grow ten times more heavier as he looked into the faces of disbelief, he decided to speak now before he got an earful of pleas and yells,

“Look guys, we can’t mess this up, this is our only hope. There’s no other way” His face was serious and Leo was fixated at the new shade of light that his brother was portraying, letting his continue his speech,

“I mean, you aren’t really going to choose one insignificant turtle over 7 billion lives, right?” And he tried to laugh, he tried to lighten the mood, but the crack in his voice was a clear sign that this was anything but funny,

“If this means saving the world, saving our friends, saving our –“ He hesitated, his breath hitching slightly as his eyes widened at the memory,

“Saving our Father” He spoke, his voice wavered on the brink of tears,

“Then I’m willing to sacrifice my life” He smiled, eyes flickering over each face, waiting for a reaction,

Leo spoke out, his voice was hoarse,

“But Mikey – “ His eyes looked sad,

“No ‘buts’ Leo, remember how Sensei said that as a leader, you gotta sacrifice certain things?” He raised an eyebrow, desperate for his older brother to understand.

Leo felt his heart swell – the memory of his Sensei, the lesson that in life sacrifices always had to be made, whether they be big or small. But he had sworn to himself that in any situation, it would always be him, him before his brothers any day that had to make a sacrifice, but here he was, completely hopeless, almost as if the universe was totally against him, making him make these choices that no leader, that no brother should ever have to make. 

“So let me do this” The youngest finished, leaving the room in a stunned silence.

“So this is really it?” Donnie spoke, his voice seemed miles away,

“I’m afraid so” The Professor spoke sadly, his arms behind his back.

Leo watched his blue eyes brother, their eyes locking for mere moments, both full of sadness, and as much as Leo wanted to jump up and cry and yell at them all, yell at them to think of something else, he knew that this was it. They had less than 24 hours now. They had no other choice. He couldn’t argue with the plan as much as he wanted to. It didn’t mean he liked it, no way. He hated it. But he had nothing else. He had no more ideas or plans.

And if Mikey seemed confident enough, then maybe Leo did a little bit too.


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the day was full of training, preparing, not just physically but mentally, for the inevitable events to come less than 24 hours.  
The hologram room projected the image of Earth; the last place they stood before it was destroyed, crumbling into nothing.  
The holographic Triceartons were no match for the ninjas – but the four boys knew that facing the real Triceratons was a whole ‘nother reality.

Soon they felt their muscles burn from the tedious hours they had poured into sparing and training – and for the first time in what felt like forever, there was no word of complain, not moaning and no arguments. This was undoubtedly the biggest fight they would have to partake in – and it was no secret than none of them were the slightest bit scared.

And if wasn’t just the fight – it was Michelangelo. That’s was what the underlying worry that seemed to hang in the air like a thick fog.  
Their only hope for saving Earth was to abandon their previous plan of saving the youngest so that they could destroy the Black Hole Generator, and as much as it pained the band of brothers to even consider leaving their brother – they knew that that they didn’t have a lot of other options. This was basically there last resort and if it meant perhaps sacrificing one of them, they knew that they would stand together as a clan. As brothers.

“Remember, don’t ever let your guard down” Leo spoke through gritted teeth, the sound of metal against more metal, the occasional grunt and oof.

“You got it Fearless” Raph spoke with a determined grim, his sais blocking a blow from a pair of nunchaku.

“Aint nothin’ like a good old fashioned sparing session” The freckled teen smiled, his bright blue eyes flashing determined until he managed to pin the heavier turtle down, whooping in victory.

The youngest had managed to get the red clad brother on the floor with a simple sweep of his legs, his chucks jabbing him in the plastron, giving him the upper hand,

“Looks like the Mikester strikes again” He gleamed, his hands on his hips as his older brother groan in protest rubbing the back of his head where it had made hard contact with the floor,

“Yeah, yeah, you did good bro” He remarked at his other brother chuckling at the defeat, but as Raph stood up he couldn’t help but feel a swell of proudness in his heart – his brother had always had a hard time concentrating in battles, which was what stopped him from excelling, but now it seemed he was pouring his heart and soul into this training, using every inch of energy he had in his body to make sure that this all went to plan. No one was going to die this time. Emphasis on the word, no one. 

Suddenly there was the sound the swords being placed neatly back in the holder that was strapped to the blue clad turtles shell.

“Alright guys, I think we better rest up before we exhaust ourselves” The oldest said in his best 'leader' tone,

“You’re right about that Leo” The purple clad ninja smiled, wiping his brow that had formed a small layer of sweat with the back of his hand.

“Uh huh, I could totally go for a Pizza right now” Mikey skipped around as the holographic images soon dissolved into pixels and then back into the gray silver metallic walls and floors.

“Is there anything other than Pizza on your mind” Raph smirked as the boys walked towards the exit,

“Hah, well one other thing” Mikey replied but the laughs stopped and eyes widened, the tension became thick in the air again, the unspoken words were mere thoughts in each other minds, but they were all thinking of it still.

Raph playfully nudged his brother in the ribs,

“Hey don’t think like that bro, nothings gonna go wrong” He spoke, his words spoke comfort and reassurance but his tone was miles off, wobbling slightly, almost as if the very words made him sick.

“Yeah” The freckled brother smiled crookedly as the four of them walked out of the holographic room.

 

Soon enough the brothers and their human counterparts were sitting on the couch comfortably, the TV flickered with the cringe worthy images of Bradford’s 2 Ruff Crew, earning the occasional snorts of laughter from the teens. 

Donnie watched his brother, who was sat on the floor, shell pressed up against the couch, his legs crossed over like a child as he chewed on his pizza his eyes soaking up the colourful images of the TV screen. And the genius brother couldn’t help but feel a pang of hurt in his chest. He loved his brothers, but Mikey was his only little brother – he was the baby of the family and he wished that it didn’t have to be this way. And no matter how many times he smiled and laughed along with the jokes, he couldn’t help but hear a nagging voice in his head, screaming, 

‘This might be the last time you’re together again’.

He didn’t want it to be true, of course not; he and his older brothers had forever sworn an unspoken vow to protect each other – to protect Mikey, at all costs. And now he had no choice to let his brother take one for the team, to let his brother be taken, and it hurt. It hurt last time, when he watched his baby brother being teleported, his arm in a tight vice grip of the horn headed alien, he remembered the fear coursing through his veins, the choruses of, ‘MIKEY!’ from his other family members. Of course that hurt. But then he had no other intentions in that split second to go and save him, there wasn’t any discussion, he had determination to want to rescue from the enemy, but he knew that now, he had to continue fighting, he had to ignore the fact that his brother was going to be taken away from his very eyes. He had to let it happen this time, and that was going to sting like hell. 

And even though his brothers had been so light-hearted about the situation, ignoring the worse possibilities that could happen, what would happen if this didn’t work, he knew that they also had that nagging voice in the back of the head, bashing a headache on the inside of their skull – because that was what brothers did – worried.


	3. Chapter 3

Before they knew it they were full on enough pizza to last them a life time, their eyes growing tired no matter how many dumb episodes of Bradford’s show they watched, they knew that tomorrow would be a long day and they should get as much sleep as they could, rest was defiantly needed – not just for their body but for their minds too. 

Casey stretched his long legs from the position they had been folded into for the past couple of hours, a groan escaping him as his body protested in any movement.

And that’s exactly how they all felt – not wanting to move from this perfect moment, to just stay for another five minutes, just to chat and laugh or maybe just silence, to just relax together, their small family.  
It was April who had mentioned about getting some rest,

“You guys, I think we should probably call it a night, it’s getting late”

A hum from Leo caused a ripple effect as everyone agreed, standing up, stretching their limbs from their sore muscles.

“Aww, but I’m not even tired yet”   
Of course Mikey would complain. 

“C’mon Mikey, we got a huge day ahead of us” Leo spoke watching his littlest brother move from his spot on the floor.

“Yeah you’re right” The baby blue eyed turtle mumbled, pulling himself up.

A twang of guilt seemed to stab the oldest in his heart – it wasn’t that Mikey was being stubborn, wanting to watch just one more episode – he had a feeling that his thoughts were catching up on him.

“Hey, how the hell are you supposed to defeat them Triceratons if you’re gonna be passing out every second” Leo nudged, there was a playfulness in his voice, one that made Mikey’s lips curl at his brothers enthusiasm.

But the feeling crept back into the turtles head,

“Who says I’m gonna be able to defeat them?”

He slapped a three fingered hand over his mouth, in some sort of attempt to swallow back the words that seemed to escape his mouth. Damn.

He watched his brother’s face twist into frowns, not entirely angry ones,

“What?” Raph asked, his brow bone creased from his expression, his hands balled into giant fists.

“You heard me Raph, what if I can’t escape, or, or…” Mikey whined, his breath starting to hitch, 

Mikey didn’t even feel the bodies that pulled him in, arms wrapping them around him, not until he let himself cry. He felt the soft touch on human skin, Casey and April, join in the hug and soon he was being sandwiched in between a huddle of love and family.

Mikey heard Leo’s voice rumble inside of him from where his head was buried into his plastron, along with the steady beat of his heart,

“You can do it Mikey” 

And that was what the turtle let the waterworks free, tears splattering over his brothers plastron, small sobs erupting from his tummy, from his heart, where it hurt the most.

They had so much faith in him – which was something completely new to him. His brothers trusting him with this, because they had to. Because there was no other choice.  
He would be lying if he had said he wasn’t scared right down to his core. He had been in the enemies hands, he couldn’t remember the exact plans they had for him, but they sounded all but pleasant. The only way he wasn’t able to experience any of that was because of his brothers. He was able to walk away freely, not as much as a scratch, and thankfully he could say the same about his bros but now they weren’t going to save his butt. And he honestly was thankful for that, he was glad that they weren’t wasting their precious time going all the way to space to save him, because if they weren’t saving him, then they were saving their father, the world in fact. And one turtle to billions of people wasn’t going to make much difference, only to a small handful of mutants – but that didn’t matter did it? He was just Mikey. He didn’t do much apart from make the meals and be the bait on his teams fishing hook. He wasn’t as brave as Leo, he wasn’t as strong as Raph, and he wasn’t as smart as Donnie. 

He was just Mikey, and sure, he understood the underlying love his family had for him, he never doubted that – he just wanted to be so much better than what he was, but now, about to make this sacrifice, he wondered if he could really do it. He had waited for so long to prove himself, to show the others that he could do what they could do, but he guessed that all of this – this crying and whimpering – came down to one thing. Fear. He had always been afraid of dying.

His thoughts were interrupted when the warmth around him suddenly vanished, the group hug pulling apart as Leo held onto his shoulders.  
The oldest brother stared into wet blue orbs, his face crumpling,

“Do you think it hurts Leo?” The baby brother spoke meekly.

Confused, Leo cocked an eyebrow ridge,

“What hurts Mikey?” Leo asked softly.

Mikey sniffled a bit before speaking again, his voice seemed miles away,

“Dying”

And with that he was pulled into that warm hug again, no words spoked for a while as arms held his shaking frame.

Leo’s soft deep voice flowed through the room, greeting Mikey’s ears,

“You’re not gonna need to know that Michelangelo” 

Full naming normally meant business, and it made Mikey feel about ten times lighter, his heart skipping in his chest as the absolute sincerity in his voice – how his brothers had complete trust in him, before Mikey could speak, Raph cut him off, leaving the younger teen with his mouth open like a fish,

“Besides, if ya die up there, I’m gonna kill you”

And the chuckle of the other present rumbled through their bodies and Mikey felt it all, soaking up every inch of happiness they could offer the small turtle, because the last thing he needed was a babyish breakdown in the middle of battle.  
If his brothers had faith in him, he should too. Because he was doing this for the world, doing this for his Sensei – he was doing this for them. And even if he did die up there, even if he died a cruel death at the Triceratons hands, he knew that it wasn’t for nothing. And even though Raph would call him corny and Donnie would scoff at the thought as Leo rolled his eyes, smiling just slightly – if he was going to die, he wanted to die some sort of hero at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So since I was supposed to upload a chapter a day this week for this story, I was busy yesterday so I'm posting two in one day:)  
> So remember to leave kudos and comments and support since I appreciate it so much :)  
> Thank-you all and much love !!


	4. Chapter 4

The night was spent as huddle of blankets and pillows lugged from various other rooms, sprawled over the cushioned floor of the TV room, after a protest from Mikey he didn’t even have to finish his sentence before the other nodded in agreement that a sleepover was in fact a brilliant idea. It had been a while since the four brothers had fallen asleep together – back home, they would pile into the pit close together as they slept soundly when one would come home from a fight, battered and bruised, or if the other had been too afraid to simply sleep on their own that night, and as the years went by, soon there were no words exchanged, like a silent communication they would drag their tired bodies and blankets from their rooms and settle in the pit, close by each other for a sound sleep, and now as the day began on Earth, so had theirs.

Fugitoid strode into the room, to see them sleeping peacefully, their arms and legs tangled, soft snores and even a little bit of drool.  
The Professor awkwardly cleared his throat and seconds later, Leo sat up, his hands clenched into fists, looking around for the danger, only to be met with the robot.

Embarrassed, the blue clad ninja rubbed the back of his neck as he cheeks flushed slightly,

“Uh… Sorry Professor, ninja reflexes” He shrugged, delicately peeling the blanket from the bottom half of his torso, standing up, missing the sleeping brothers under his foot.

“Ah, no worries Leonardo” Fugitoid reassured, his metallic hands crossed behind his back, just like any other morning. But this was their last morning on this ship. In just a few hours they would be taken back to Earth, back to New York City – back home, where they would be given a second chance, their last chance, to save everything from destruction.

“Better wake the others, huh?” Leo remarked, twisting to see his small band of brother peacefully resting in the nest of cushions, blankets and warmth.

“Yes, then breakfast” Fugitoid replied before turning to exit the room, leaving Leonardo with the five sleeping teens.

“Hey guys, wake up” Leo poked Raph with his foot light enough to get a grumble from the awakening teen.

“I don’t wanna” Came from Donnie as the gap toothed teen buried his face into the pillow, muffling any sound that came from him.

April soon awakened, yawning, sending a hand through her ruffled red hair that was now loosely falling out of her ponytail.

Casey grumbled as he felt a shove from the red banded turtle as all that was left was Mikey. He was the deepest sleeper by far.

Leo crouched down, his legs bent as he shook his brother, cooing him to wake up.   
He got a response of incoherent mumbles, some strings of words that must have escaped whatever wild crazy dream he was having before he fluttered his eyes open, squinting at the light, 

“Aw man, is it morning already?” He groaned as he sat up,

“Come on Mike lets go get breakfast” Leo smiled as the younger turtles blearily goy up, following the others into what they had adapted as the kitchen.

There on the table was a feast of pancakes, waffles, French toast and various other delicacies.

The group felt their stomach’s rumble and eyes widen at the spread of fresh smelling food.  
The sat down one by on at the table when Fugitoid emerged, arms full of glasses, placing them in front of each person and one for himself. He poured out glasses of orange juices to which to smiled thanks as the gulped down the refreshing beverage, giving them a little more energy from their post sleep state.

Soon enough they were tucking in, helping themselves, small talk was exchanged between mouthfuls of food.  
After what felt like hours of eating, they sat back, full from the food in their bellies,

“Thank you Fugitoid, I think that defiantly filled me up for the rest of the day” Donnie said, his head turning to the Professor,

“Ah good Donatello, I assume you are all finished too” He asked, to get a collective nod and thankyous.

“Well, we best be getting started then” Leo spoke, his chair protesting against the metallic floor.  
The oldest brother subconsciously looked over to Michelangelo, who seemed more confident in the way he smiled at him.

Soon the turtles were back in the holographic room, squeezing in some last minute training, they still had a couple of hours to spare, they would train, have some lunch, go over the plan for what felt like the millionth time, and then relax – because the last thing Leo wanted was tension. Being able to relax was something he had learnt over the years, that it wasn’t a crime. He’d often called it being lazy, but he had understood that having a more relaxed ready team was million times better than a on edge tense team, and he had learnt that the hard way with one of the billion times he had fought with Raphael. But there was going to be no butting heads today – today was about coming together as a team, as brothers to do what they had to do. 

Surprisingly Mikey had been able to pin down Donnie a few couple of times, Raph at least and Leo once – which was an improvement for the turtle, and only getting himself pinned a few times in the hour that they trained.

“You’re doing really well Mikey” Leo beamed proudly as he watched Mikey extend a hand to Raphael who was on his shell. The red clad brother roughly patted his younger brother on the shell, causing him to stumble a few steps before catching himself, smiling at his brothers.

“Sensei was right about you” Donnie spoke as he placed his bo back in its holder.  
Mikey grin had straightened out at the mention of their Sensei,

“Right about what?” He asked, cocking his head in confusion,

The three brother exchanged smiles before Leo placed a hand on Mikey’s shoulder,

“Sensei always believed that you had, well – have – the most raw talent out of us” And Leo couldn’t look any more prouder as he watched the way Mikey’s smile cracked, stretching over his face, his eyes sparkling the way they did when he was truly happy. 

“Really?” He asked, chocked by the lump in his throat,

“Really bro” Raph assured him patting him again, this time ten times more gentler. 

“He said that with a little bit more training and more concentrating, you’d go miles beyond us Mikey” Donnie spoke, his voice hushed, maybe because of the proud tears forming in the corner in his eyes,

“And it looks like you’re getting there kiddo” Raph squeezed his shoulder, and soon Mikey felt the prickle of his own tears, letting out a laugh, his smile still wide across his face as he brother pulled him in for another hug.

The swoosh of the doors alerted them as the pulled away and averted their attention to where the sound was coming from,

“Oh sorry – I wasn’t interrupting, was-was I?” April awkwardly stuttered, moving back and forth gesturing to the door as if she should leave.

Donnie used a knuckle to brush away the stray tears on his cheeks before looking up to the redhead,

“No you’re okay April” He smiled up at her,

“Oh okay good, I came to tell you it’s lunch time, so if you’re hungry…” Her words trailed off, waiting for them to be picked up by someone,

“Sure thing April, we’ll be up there in just a moment” Leo spoke, rubbing Mikey’s head with his free hand.  
She smiled and nodded before exiting the room, another smooth swoosh as the doors closed.

“I hope it’s pizza” Mikey smirked as they walked out the room, only to get a playful nudge in the ribs by Raph.

 

The day seemed perfect, lunch was in fact pizza, what else would it have been? They had been sitting in the lounge area, talking as the TV flickered, but no one was really watching. 

And as perfect as it was, they knew it had to come to a screeching halt, when it was time to go back to Earth – they day that they had all so desperately waited for, now seemed eerily frightening. 

“So let’s go over the plan one last time” Leo spoke, setting his plate down his lap, as soon the other teenagers Professor had their rapt attention all on him.

“When we get down on Earth the Triceratons will just being putting the pieces together, Donnie,” The purple clad teenager, frowned in concentration at the mention of his name, 

“You’ll try to disarm it in any way you can” 

Donnie nodded, accepting the challenge, he had a few months in Space, he had once had this type of technology in his hands before it was cruelly ripped from them, he had confidence that he could somehow manage this. He had to. 

“Me and Raph will strike from the sides, keeping you safe, by this time the Mutanimals and Sensei should start to show up” 

Then Leo stopped, his eyes met Mikey’s and they had a glow that he had never seen before in them – pure determination, something that Leo had only seen in himself, and he was amazed for a second of how much they really looked alike at times, 

“Mikey, you know the drill, you save take out a few Triceratons, save Leatherhead, and as you get caught remember to-“ 

“To dismantle the force field gun, that way Casey won’t get caught” Mikey cut his brother off, hoping to impress him by remembering what he had to do, since his memory when it came to plans wasn’t exactly his forte.

Leo beamed proudly at his freckled faced brother,

“Good job Mikey” And Leo watched his brother smile proudly at the praise he was receiving and it made Leo’s heart swell.

Leo turned to face the others, continued with the plan,

“Once Mikey gets caught, we have to make sure the Shredder doesn’t show up, Donnie will be working on the Black Hole Generator, hopefully for not too long, but with the help of Casey and April and the Mutanimals we can hold them back” Leo spoke, using his serious tone,

“What if The Shredder does turn up Leo?” April asked meekly from where she sat, 

Leos eyes grew dark as he sucked in a breath of air,

“Then we take him down – we take them all down”

A nod from the group, brows creased, small smiles of determination were exchanged, and Mikey didn’t know if it was the adrenaline or the amount of sugar from the croissants he had ate earlier from this morning, but he felt so ready for this. So ready.

“So once the Black Hole Generator is destroyed, it’s up to you Mikey, to get home” Leo said, focusing on the orange clad brother, 

“Use the skill I told you, remember stealth and don’t forget to nab a teleporter, if we don’t get to you first, you gotta be the one to get back – so don’t forget to grab one” He spoke, his eyes flickering like a fire.

There were no words after that, because they knew that if Mikey didn’t get a teleporter, and the others were unable to get one – then Mikey would for sure be stranded up there, for sure.

“Go it” Mikey nodded, pushing his fears out of his head as much as he could, he had to be brave, and there was no backing out now.

The sound of metallic feet walking over the smooth polished floors made the six teens turn their heads to be met with the Professor,

“Its time”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So here is the next chapter:) Thank-you for all the kudos and such; they really motivate me to keep writing this mini fanfic:) and remember - I'll be posting a chapter per day this week for this fanfic, if I manage to finish the whole story in three more chapters oops;) But once again, thank-you and don't forget to leave comments and kudos since they really help and I appreciate them greatly:)   
> Much love !!


	5. Chapter 5

The Turtles soon found themselves gearing up, doing stretches, and taking a few deep breaths to calm their rapid nerves.   
Mikey was re applying his hand wraps carefully around his hands and knuckles when he felt the ship move,

“We have started descending down to Earth” Futigoid addressed everyone in the room from his pod where he controlled the steady movement of the ship.

And soon, they were gliding through clouds, buildings becoming bigger, the ants of Earth soon became humans, darting around, busy with their lives – the lives that were in the hands of four young turtles.

The ship landed with a clunk, the sound of the metal base touching with the cold concrete, the touchdown that clarified that they were home. But it wasn’t home – not yet, not until they knew that they were safe.

“We have a while – maybe 5 to 10 minutes – until the Triceratons get here, which leaves us time to prepare” Donnie said in the silence of the ship.

“Now we know their plan, we’re gonna be one step ahead” The tall turtle added, a smile forming o his lips, 

“Donnie’s right” Leo agreed, looking around to see everyone else had a small smile, they may be scared, but they were so ready, so ready to save the Earth.

The four brothers were soon stood gathered in a small circle – because although there was this unbelievable determination between them, there was still the inevitable question of what if doesn’t work – or what if he doesn’t come back. 

“Remember the plan guys” Leo spoke low, his blue eyes reflecting the light, shimmering slightly,

“Stay focused” 

“Breath”

“And good luck” 

Mikey felt his breath hitch, his chest about to break as his heart thumped against his rib cage, but he couldn’t let his fear take over, not now.  
He felt the strong steady hand of Raphael place delicately on his slightly shaking shoulder,

“I aint gonna say ‘Good Luck’ or anything dumb like that because… because I know that nothings gonna happen to ya, got it?” His voice was smooth and calming, but it didn’t help ease the prickle behind baby blue eyes.

His voice came out as a whisper as he bit back tears,

“Sure Raph”

And the four of them had made a deal an hour or so before, no hugs, because this wasn’t a goodbye – this wasn’t a sad farewell, because they were all going to make it out alive, they were saving that hug for after, when the world was safe, when they were back in the lair with their Sensei –but the freckled turtle had an overwhelming urge just to bury his face in their plastron, where he could be soothed by the steady beat of their heart, to have their arms wrap around him, holding him as close as they could.

But his thoughts were cut short when the whoosh of the door lowered, fresh air hitting his face, the cool night air of New York felt so strange, yet so familiar.

“Good luck” Fugitoid spoke softly, a simple nod was given, a silent thank you, as the six teenagers made their way out of the ship and into what could be life or death. But they knew one thing for sure… there was no way that they were going to let the Triceratons take this Earth – not again. 

The Turtles and their human allies stood in the park, the exact same place they were on that fateful night, which seemed oddly so long ago.  
The sound of a grumble from beyond the bushes and shrubs alerted the turtle brothers, as the used their ninja stealth to move towards the sound.  
And sure enough the Triceratons were there, no sign of Splinter or The Mutanimals, which meant all was going to plan.

“One my count” Leo spoke, his voice was low and eyes were white.

“One” 

Raph gripped his sais in a death lock, squeezing them until his knuckles turned white,

“Two” 

Donnie shifted, his body in a fighting stand, ready to throw himself at the enemy, anything to protect his planet.

“Three” 

Mikey felt the sickening thud in his chest, the sweat forming over his body, his legs felt numb and weak, like wet noodles, his body trembled as he side glanced to his brothers and to April and Casey as the got ready to attack. He was nothing like them. He was wrong. He wasn’t strong, he wasn’t smart. And he sure as hell wasn’t brave – and it was showing.

“NOW”

And with that all teens flew forward, the Triceratons spun on the heels at the sudden movement, but the ninjas were too quick.

“Donnie! Disable that thing” Leo yelled to his brother, his swords deflecting rays of gun fire, his shell back to back with Raphs,

“On it!” He yelled back, flipping over a Triceraton.

Mikey felt his chest heave uncomfortably as he weakly spun his nunchaku, smacking one of the horn headed aliens in the face with a sickening crack.  
He stood their numbly for a second as it fell to the floor, unconscious, before his eyes wandered over and saw that The Mutanimals had arrived. And Sensei. 

“Mikey! The force field gun!” Leo shouted out to his brother as he held off two Triceratons.

He looked over to see the gun was aimed at Casey and with a split second he had whipped his throwing stars out, years of training and water balloons giving him spot of accuracy to disable the gun, the Triceraton grunting in annoyance as Casey rolled away, smacking him in the face with a hockey stick and the sound off hooting and hollering in excitement.

Mikey stood there, everyone fighting around him, whilst his legs were stuck to the floor, breaking into a cold sweat, the sound of pumping blood loud in his ears.

It wasn’t until the loud yell of his friend – the friend he had missed so much over the long course of time he was gone, it wasn’t until he saw his giant friend being shot at, that Mikey snapped back into focus, that he felt an ugly hurt in his heart as he watched his friend get hurt, that his grip on his weapon got tighter, that he let out an animalistic growl – it was then that he let his legs move, flipping and dodging the gunfire around him, leaping into the air where his foot made contact with the Triceratons face. 

And time seemed to slow down as watched the Triceration make a grab for his arm where Mikey was tugged back down, his gaze wandered over to his brothers who were so focused on fighting, where Donnie has his tongue sticking out just like he always did, where Leo moved so silently and swiftly whereas Raph grunted and cursed and yelled. He watched a stunned Leatherhead move but it was too late, it was too late for all of them, as Mikey felt himself move, his eyes meeting the shocked ones of his brothers, the last thing he heard was the pained scream of his name from his Father – just as he had heard before. And he wasn’t brave like Leo, he wasn’t smart like Donnie and he wasn’t strong like Raph. He wasn’t them and he never would be. He was Mikey. He was just Mikey. 

And as he felt the sudden change from Earth to the Triceratons ship, he blinked away the tears that had blurred his vision. 

Because if he was just Mikey, then maybe his brothers would understand the simple fact that he wasn’t going to come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey:)  
> So poor Mikey having some self doubt;( who said this was going to be a happy fanfiction?;)  
> So leave some kudos or comments or whatever and I will be posting the next chapter tomorrow, and I think this should be done by Sunday :)  
> So thank you for all the support and have a great weekend :)  
> Much love !!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!  
> So sorry this is like, a week late since I have been on vacation the past week so I thought I would post this chapter now before I fall asleep ha:)  
> So since this story is really lagging now, I might be able to write up a few more chapters (since there is only like three(?) more left) and post them tomorrow depending if I actually get it done or not, so yeah:)  
> Much love !!
> 
> Also, I have the next chapter of Keeper written up, I just need to edit and stuff and it should be up within a few hours or so:) cool beans

The echoed scream from his father made Leonardo almost jump from his shell,

“MICHELANGELO!”

The sound of his father’s voice sent shivers over his scaled skin – just the thought that his Sensei was here, alive. And it wasn’t a past self of just a vision from the hologram room from the ship. This was the real Splinter – and now he was screaming for his youngest child as he disappeared from their very eyes, just as before. 

Leo had a split second to lock eyes with his father’s brown ones, before he dodged the hit from an incoming Triceraton. 

“Retreat! It is far too dangerous” Splinter called out to the battered mutants and humans, as they did what he said, slipping away from the fight.

And soon the three turtles were resting atop a far away fire escape of some building, catching their breath, when their Sensei came and joined them,

“Boys” He spoke, addressing his sons.

Leo felt his heart drop, this wasn’t the reunion he had wished for, the one he had planned in his head, the one he had waited for months for. He knew what his father was going to say – they had lived through this ordeal before and it felt like a nauseating déjà vu. And Leo knew that whatever his father had to say, he had to stop him,

“Go. Go after Michelangelo” He ordered, half expecting them to dash off immediately, but it was the sight of Leonardo sliding his twin katana’s back in his holders that caught his attention.

“Father” He spoke, stepping forward,  
“We have no time, we must destroy the Black Hole Generator”

Splinter was stunned for a second, before his wide eyes turned into a frown,  
“I am telling you – go, save your brother”

It was Raphael that spoke up next,  
“No Sensei, you don’t understand”

And it was true, the old rat did not in fact understand, it was so unusual for his sons to not want to go after one another, especially Michelangelo.

“Look, Master Splinter, we have to stay here, Donnie he’s the only one that can destroy that thing – we can’t afford to lose any more time. We have to stay here. It’s our only option”

Leo felt the hard beat of his heart on his chest as he watched his father absorb his words, not quite sure of how he would react.

“Leonardo” He spoke softly, his eyes were reflecting more light than they should have been,

“Go. Go now. I will get reinforcements”

And like that the three boys paled slightly at the idea, knowing of what the outcome would be,

“Don’t” Raph spoke, his voice was low, almost growling and it made Splinter take a step back at out aggressive his son had been – not at him though,

“Don’t trust the Shredder, please don’t”  
This was the first time Donatello had spoken up and now he sounded so meek and timid, almost frightened.

How had they known that he was going to call upon the Shredder for back up?  
But it didn’t matter. The look of pure terror on their faces was enough to make him change his mind.

With a sigh, Splinter lowered his head and closed his eyes.  
“Okay my sons. But we need a plan”

And with that the three brothers exchanged small smiles – but they knew that this was far from being a happy ending.  
As the turtles and their Sensei was about to leave, Leo found himself glancing up at the night sky, hoping that he brother was safe. Hoping that he was okay. Hoping that he was more than just a sacrifice.


End file.
